For many years I was trying to find an answer to one question: "Which competition is the best in the world?".
Many will have a ready answer to it: the British Open in Blackpool. However an easy answer is not always the best answer. Of course in Blackpool you have all the top couples. Winning British Open is the most prestigious award you can get in dancing - even a World Champion title is not so important.
However, the prestige of the title is not enough in my opinion to say that this competition is the best, so I have decided to consider and analyse some other factors - e.g. how the couples are treated by the organisers, how good the atmosphere is during the competition, how well it is organised, how easy it is to check the results, how good the judges are, etc.
There are competitions which I simply like, and some I do not. Interestingly enough, my choices are quite similar to these of many couples or even judges I was talking to. So, what created this “like” feeling. Is it measurable? Can we introduce some competition rating as good as our own couple rating?
Let’s start to analyse some of the competitions.
Let's consider for example The International Championships. As in Blackpool, all the best couples are dancing there, and, just as in Blackpool, there are events for every age groups. However, I always think about The International as two different competitions. The first one is danced in Brentwood and second one in the Royal Albert Hall. There is very little similarity between them (with of course an exception of the organiser who is the same). The Brentwood competition takes place in a sport hall with its floor covered with markings and lines for basketball and other sports. The audience mainly consists of dancers and their friends and families. The judges are of a very high level, but in general there is nothing special there, it is just a competition judged by a good panel.
On the third day however, the competition moves to the Royal Albert Hall in the middle of London, and this changes its image completely. The top 48 couples from all over the world compete on probably the most beautiful dance arena ever. The whole building is of a such calibre that a dinner suit (or evening dress for ladies) seems to be the only appropriate attire. The competition runs with almost an inhuman precision. And finally judging: this is something incredible – probably the best 76 coaches and judges from the whole world divided into 4 panels. In every round, each event is judged by a different panel. Over there, in the Royal Albert Hall, nobody can claim that the judges were against them.
So, simply speaking, from the point of elegance, level of judging, quality of couples the third day of The International is something that other competitions can only hope to achieve. It started to sound like an advert not an analysis, so maybe it is time to look at the weaker points. The first thing that comes to mind is the accessibility of the results. We strongly believe that results of the competition should be available to the couples and everyone else interested in dancing, in a matter of hours from the moment the competition has finished. It does not happen during The International. With an exception of the finalists (of course!) all couples have to wait weeks, or even months for results. Our whole team and practically all people we were talking to about it agree that this is not acceptable in the era of electronic communication.
It is interesting that on the smaller competitions like, for example, the Latvian Open, where our representatives were invited, results of the previous round, i.e. marks of all those who did not get a recall are displayed on monitors seconds after recall, while some of the most prestigious events in the world will not do that.
When I am thinking about The International, the venue seems to be one of the important factors. So - can we find some other competitions which in this or other way offer an interesting or exciting place to dance? Two competitions immediately come to mind: the Kremlin Cup. in Moscow and the Salt Cup in Wieliczka. The first one is danced in an impressively elegant ball room in the Kremlin, the palace where all the richness of the Russian tsars and then their communist successors can be marvelled at. The other one is even more original – it is danced 60m underground in the old salt mine in Wieliczka, Poland. Those people who have never seen the Wieliczka mine, will not believe just how beautiful these rooms are 60-100 meters underground. I would strongly recommend everyone to go there at least once. Be prepared - the place has (for obvious reasons) very limited space.
There is also an important factor of how the organiser treats the competing couples. The number of dancing couples has, of course, direct influence on the profitability of the competition, so one would expect that the couples should be treated in a very special way. However in many competitions this is not the case. I remember for a example a couple who came from the other side of Europe to compete in the British Open. They have entered only the Amateur Rising Star event and the organiser emailed them the times of the first round. When they turned up it appeared that there was a mistake in the email and they missed their first round. They went to talk to the organiser, but the organisers were very strict – you missed your round, it’s your fault. The organiser even refused to put them on the Amateur event list instead, so this couple, in fact, wasted their time and money coming to Blackpool as they did not have a chance to dance.
How different was a behaviour of The International organisers several years ago. Some couples due to be dancing Latin got stuck in the traffic jam on their way from London and did not have a chance to be on time for their qualifying rounds. The organisers not only delayed the event for 45 minutes, they also reshuffled couples in heats, so those who came later were dancing in the last heat. It required a lot of changes, but proved that for this organiser the couples were important.
There is a competition where couples are treated exceptionally well. This is the World Masters in Innsbruck, Austria. As this competition is in fact one event, i.e. Professional Latin, it is much easier for Mr Polai to take care of the couples, but you have to see it to appreciate it. Before the competition all couples are invited for a fantastic dinner, together with all the judges, officials and sponsors. All attendees are dressed up, the dinner is hosted in a great restaurant, fantastic food is served, and each couple gets a precious gift from the sponsors. It all creates a unique atmosphere of a group of professionals equal to each other, just some of them will dance next day and some of them will judge.
On the other end there are some competitions (very important ones and not so important ones) where couples are treated as almost no ones. A whole competition seems to be organised solely for the judges and officials.
It is disputable if dancing is or is not a sport, but a competition by definition is similar to a sport event. Someone is judging, someone is judged. Let’s compare dance competition to any other sport competition. For example, figure skating is very similar to dancing in the sense that the panel of judges evaluates couple quality. The judging system might be different, there is only one couple performing at the time, but the principles are the same. Complaints about unfair judging are also very similar to the ones in the dance world. However , how many times have you seen an organiser of the figure skating competition being applauded by the audience? How many times have you seen the judges’ presentation as an important part of the event? No, in the figure skating the competitors are more important than the judges and organisers. In the dance world, at least on some of the events, it seems to be the opposite.
In some competitions the organisers seem to be interested in promoting themselves only, but fortunately the majority it is organised for the dancers. There are also some, which are organised also (or even mainly) for a general public.
There is a big difference for couples if they are applauded by their friends and their families or by the generic public watching the competition.
Of course, organising such a show needs somehow different skills than organising a competition. But, it is possible.
The very good example of this is the World Masters mentioned before. This is one event which stretches from midday to the late evening, where the morning session is free for the public, while the evening session is televised and made into an exceptional spectacle. Even if not all the top couples came for this competition, for the general public from the world outside of dancesport, it does not matter.
For a normal person (I mean a non-dancer, I do not qualify their intellectual qualities!) there is no difference in quality of dancing between, say, the top 12 professional couples. The Latin style is also more interesting for them than the Ballroom. So as a result, once in a year they are offered a spectacle while seating at the tables and drinking wine, they can see some beautiful dancing and additional entertainment during the breaks.
The other example of a specific atmosphere is, as always, the Dutch Open in Assen. I do not really understand why the Dutch audience is so different from the others, but the evenings in Assen are simply spectacular. You have probably seen videos from Assen when all people go to the floor and dance together. Couples and Judges, viewers and staff. All enjoy this unforgettable night. The Dutch public here (I am writing this during the festival) is cheering and supporting the couples they like, it does not matter what nationality or organisation they are representing.
I cannot simply say what is better – the top quality and elegance during The International or the relaxed atmosphere and joy during Dutch Open. It is for you to decide. Fortunately, it seems that political fight around this event is finished and the Dutch Open is open to all couples from around the world. Let’s hope it will be that way also in the future.
Many of the organisers of some old, very important events do not realize that it is the XXI. century now and that information flow today is different than it was 20 years ago. Even those who try to publish information on the Internet are not sometimes very successful. But there is hope. The last IDSF Latin World Championships had shown us a light in a tunnel. Whole competition was reported live on the Internet. Results were published and sent to us that very same day. Photographers had an easy access to take pictures for those who could not be there. More competitions like this, please!
There are many other competitions worth mentioning but even after the analysis of these few, I have reached a conclusion that there is no such competition that can be called The Best Competition In The World.
If you want to have some fun and really enjoy your dancing – you must visit Assen, If you have a chance to be in the top 48 in the world, you simply have to dance at The International. If you are Professional Latin dancer – add World Masters to your calendar. If you are an Amateur and want to have a nice balance of all those factors, go to the German Open.
See you on one of those competitions or some other of course.
And have a happy dancing wherever you are.
By Zbyszek Swirski - Dancesportinfo.net